A journey through the history of the US Postal Service mail carrier

A postman wearing snow shoes in the Rocky Mountains circa 1870.

Horse-drawn mail wagons circa 1909.

The new auto truck put into service by the United States Mail for the delivery of Parcel Post circa 1910.

Around 1911, the Flying Merkel—a bright orange, American-built motorcycle produced by the Miami Cycle & Manufacturing Co.—was briefly pressed into service by the U.S. Post Office Department as officials experimented with faster mail delivery methods. Period photographs show Postal Service carriers using belt‑driven, V‑twin Flying Merkels for urban and rural routes, especially when roads were too rough or distances too long for horses and bicycles. The bikes’ speed, durability, and ability to carry mail bags made them well‑suited to early 20th‑century delivery trials, helping demonstrate the practicality of motorcycles for government service and paving the way for wider mechanized mail transport in the years that followed.

A postman delivers the mail on a rural route in York County, Maine on Aug. 26, 1930.

Postman Arthur LeBlanc from Berlin, New Hampshire, delivering post from his horse-drawn sled circa 1950.

A group of New York postmen set off on foot from the General Post Office to deliver mail in New York City at Christmas around 1955.

Postman delivering letters by mule circa 1955.

A postman standing by a two wheeled mail cart whilst delivering mail in Detroit, Mich. circa 1955.

Gwin Pardin, a mail carrier out of the Belle Meade Post Office, stuffs a mailbox as part of her duties on Jan. 15, 1980. Pardin hopes her driving a mail route is a first step up the ladder to becoming postmistress in a rural Tennessee town one day.

Moore City postman Dennis Albert walks the streets of Moore City, Okla. delivering the mail on May 9, 1999. Primary services are being reestablished in the tornado-ravaged area. Official sources indicated that 41 people died and more than 500 people were injured in what was classified as an F5 tornado, the most severe type of twister, with winds of more than 250 miles per hour.

Postal letter carrier K. Ng rides a Segway Human Transporter on his postal route July 15, 2002 in San Francisco, Calif. The U.S. Postal service is testing out the Segway on routes in San Francisco.

Postal Service carrier Ron Comly carries parcel packages to a home while delivering mail along his postal route Dec. 17, 2003 in Philadelphia, Pa. December 17 is expected to be the busiest delivery day for the U.S. Postal Service.

A mailman walks down the wintry street the morning after a snowstorm March 1, 2005 in Brooklyn, New York. New York received seven inches of snow while parts of New England received over a foot.

A Postal Carrier drives her delivery truck taking US Mail to residential boxes Aug. 5, 2009 in Centreville, Virginia. The US Postal Service has announced closings of over 600 post offices across the US stating they are losing money.

US Postal Service letter carrier Dennis Stecz carries a load of mail as he walks his delivery route Jan.28, 2009 in San Lorenzo, California. The US Postal Service asked the US Congress for permission to discontinue mail delivery one additional day a week in an effort to make up financial losses. The Postal Service is forecasting a loss of $9 billion in 2009.

A mail delivery person pulls her cart through the snow on Jan. 4, 2018 in Brooklyn, New York during a giant winter "bomb cyclone”.

A mail carrier loads a postal truck with packages at a United States Postal Service (USPS) post office location in Washington, DC, April 16, 2020. For many Americans, checking the mailbox is a daily ritual, a constant in a quickly changing world that can yield anything from wedding invitations to tax audits to new clothes. But as with many ordinary things as the coronavirus crisis unfolds, the US Postal Service -- already compromised by a mountain of debt -- has a most uncertain future.

Mail carrier Oscar Osorio continues to deliver mail in Los Feliz amid the Covid 19 pandemic on April 29, 2020, in Los Angeles, Calif. Everyday the United States Postal Service (USPS) employees work and deliver essential mail to customers.

Michael Miller has been delivering the same rural USPS mail route in Gallia County, for the past 30 years, Tuesday, August 11, 2020. Some of his route consists of dirt and gravel roads for over a mile jut to deliver to two houses. Mail carriers are in many ways a lifeline to their rural communities. They don't just deliver letters and magazines, but also lifesaving medicines and packages from Amazon and FedEx that wouldn't otherwise make it.

A United States Postal Service (USPS) worker wearing a protective mask and gloves makes his rounds in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan as the city continues Phase 4 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus on Aug. 20, 2020 in New York City. The fourth phase allows outdoor arts and entertainment, sporting events without fans and media production.

Postal Service letter carrier Dawnya Allred delivers mail-in ballots in a residential neighborhood on Oct. 8, 2020 in Phoenix, Ariz. Postal authorities are expecting a record number of mail-in ballots this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Postal workers prepare mail for delivery at the Kilbourn Park post office on May 9, 2020 in Chicago, Ill. Unique Clay, a 31-year-old letter carrier who worked at the Kilbourn Park post office, died of complications from COVID-19 on May 5, a week after giving birth to her third child. She was the first letter carrier in the city to die from the virus, more than 30 have tested positive.

Letter Carrier Connie Cruz delivers mail on Oct. 8, 2020 in Salem, Ore. Mail carriers throughout Oregon are preparing for millions of mail-in ballots as the general election nears.

Michael Miller has been delivering the same rural USPS mail route in Gallia County, for the past 30 years, Tuesday, August 11, 2020. Some of his route consists of dirt and gravel roads for over a mile jut to deliver to two houses. Mail carriers are in many ways a lifeline to their rural communities. They don't just deliver letters and magazines, but also lifesaving medicines and packages from Amazon and FedEx that wouldn't otherwise make it.

Meghan Mooradian dressed her dog Cisco as a mailman during the Chamber of CommerceÕs Trick or Treat night on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021 in Randolph, Ma.

Post Master Tim Mulligan pushes a cart of mail through the snow to a letter carriers truck in Westwood, NJ. on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021.

Mailman Reid Cole delivers mail by boat on the Magnolia River in Magnolia Springs, Ala. on Wednesday, July 20, 2022.

Mail delivery workers unload a truck on Flatbush Avenue on July 22, 2022 in the Flatbush neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City. A heat advisory is in effect in the city and is expected to last through the weekend, with Sunday expected to see a high of 98 degrees, which could break NYCÕs record of 97 that was set in Central Park in 2010.

A postal worker delivers mail in Manhattan on Sept. 5, 2025 in New York City.